To Moderate or Not?

Introduction
You are welcome to comment and we hope to create a space where more people participate. We also invite people to submit content.

The comments on the Leucadia blog can be stimulating or a turnoff. It has been the Wild West on the blog. The general tone can sometimes metldown and become unpleasant, even for lurkers. It has effectively kept some people from participating in the dialogue.

JP has experimented over the years with filtering comments and requiring logging in. Neither of us are interested going that route now.

Before I throw out a proposal I should make a few points.

Background
We aren’t the government and the blog is privately controlled space. Readers do not have a constitutional right to post on the Leucadia Blog. The Leucadia blog invites the community to participate and fair access is important to us. If you say something ugly we are not compelled to publish it on our website.

I will fight for your right to publish ugly stuff on your own website, but that is another matter. I invite everyone to join me (and Council Member Barth) in support of Calaware.

Proposal
If you post under your name, or under an established screen name, you can write however ugly you want. If you post anonymously and write something unnecessary, without contributing and are disruptive to the exchange of ideas it won’t be deleted from the blog, but it might be moved from the current thread and placed in side thread.

Boorish trolling, spam, unnecessary personal attacks, or outright racism, sexism, and homophobia unrelated to the topic could also be moved to a side thread.

If you use profanity obnoxiously that could trigger a move. Intelligent or relevant use of profanity is a different story.

Final Notes
Be aware, it turns out that sometimes JP and I don’t read all the comments.
Please don’t say anything bad about my best friends JP and Mike Andreen.

See Also: Commenting is like going to a coffee-shop 

UPDATE: You can see that we removed some nasty comments addressed to someone who has different views than the LB. That was good, but moderation failed. We don't have the time to read all the comments and people get really crazy if they think they have been censored. Too much drama over small stuff. Remember, don't feed the trolls. 

Streetscape 4: Roundabouts

I have a few observations about roundabouts.

Prioritize
I would be super bummed if the streetscape project went down the tubes because roundabouts became a linchpin issue.

Objectives
Roundabouts seem to be very effective tools for some objectives and many circumstances. I think much of the friction in the streetscape debate stems from differences in objectives of the civic participants. There is also a little bit of extremism in the pro and anti roundabout rhetoric to heat things up.

Free Flowing
Roundabouts are not universally immune to congestion jams. The traffic engineer, which much of the community stands behind, told me straight up that Leucadia should not expect the roundabouts to handle more than 10,000ADTs. He implied that we will have to do something else after that.


I wrote here about why I was so surprised that some community leaders weren't interested in analyzing the traffic engineer's work. I still don't understand how it will take longer to cross Leucadia if we are keeping the HWY 101 open at freeway speeds than if we slow traffic and incorporate traffic calming/slowing infrastructure. The explicit goal behind the project is to slow traffic down and end the Leucadia drag strip. Let me be clear; I am not disputing the engineer's result. I am only saying counter-intuitive conclusions should be explained before widely accepted and used to support a decision.

Our city seems to base everything off Austin-Foust's traffic modeling. If we want to have trustworthy traffic reports that is the first thing that has to be improved and we should not selectively reject/accept the city's traffic analysis when it is beneficial to our objectives.

Given all that, it is surprising that the city's traffic engineer said the roundabouts would eventually fail. I did not ask, he volunteered this conclusion. I suspect that he is underestimating the capacity of the roundabouts. Most of the traffic is going to be flowing north/south and there will be little conflicting traffic for most of the intersections (unless there is lots of u-turning). Uneven delays at roundabouts seem to be most likely with heavy and uniform cross traffic and that doesn't describe HWY 101 very well.

The Green Question Mark
Another argument about roundabouts is they are greener. That can not be a universal reality.

We aren't comparing stop signs and roundabouts. The comparison is signals and roundabouts.

If there is no cross traffic then a sensor controlled signal will be "greener" because cars will not be forced to slow and then accelerate back up at the intersection. Steady speeds allow for fuel to be used more efficiently. In reality, there is going to be some conflicting cross traffic at any intersection. The question is, how much cross traffic do you need before the roundabout wins the "green" contest? Here is a photo of Ponto Avenue and HWY 101 in Carlsbad.
Thousands of cars go straight through this intersection without having to slow and stop. There is very little cross traffic and very little waiting for any autos. A roundabout here would result in ALL of the thousands of cars to slow and require a few to stop. My guess is that this intersection has a smaller CO2 footprint than if there was a roundabout. Maybe not, but there is some point where the trade off does not pay back in terms of greenhouse emissions. If the decision is to be based on such things then let's do the analysis. (The analysis should not be be based on optimizing all turning motions, as is now the case in the engineer's models).

Emergency Response
There are lots of public safety issues wrapped into the streetscape project. One that seems to be missing is emergency response times. One of the benefits of not living in rural zone is first responders can be at your doorstep in a few minutes. Fire, strokes, heart attacks, trauma and violent crimes can have very different outcomes as a consequence of delays in public safety response.

The city's fire department has said during public meetings that roundabouts can increase delays. I asked city staff about this and their response was the fire department has signed off on alternative 4a.

I am not saying that the delays should cause us to toss out roundabouts. We should make our decisions with our eyes wide open... if it matters.

Aesthetics
One reason people like to live in low density rural zones is concrete and asphalt are not very comforting. Vegetation, vistas, open spaces and landscaping are more desirable to many.



See Also:
The Streetscape Workshop 4 Series
Results of Workshop 4

Happy Halloween!

Funky Coast Hwy Del Mar

A quaint coast highway with Torrey Pines in the center medians. Del Mar is funkier than it gets credit for.

Kevin Buckmaster Memorial Today

Kevin Buckmaster was the 49 year old Leucadian who was hit and killed by a car on Encinitas Blvd while helping a stranded motorist on Saturday Oct. 17th. His memorial service is going to be held today at 3pm at Moonlight Beach

STOP SURFING CONTESTS AT SWAMIS

A small group of profiteers are planning a surf contest to be held at Swamis in Encinitas October 2010. This is a segregated contest that excludes the local surfing community. Swamis services several hundred surfers a day. Cutting off public access to Swamis will put pressure on other surf spots, creating frustration with overcrowding and dangerous situations.
The Rob Machado and Switchfoot Bro-Am contest have been very successful in the past because those events includes the local community. These contest have not been held at Swamis because the organizers know that Swamis is traditionally a no contest zone and they respect that. Even the Swamis Surfing Association has written in their by-laws not to have contest at Swamis.
The new CEO of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce Marshall Weinreb, a non-surfer, has declared this contest "The biggest thing to ever come to Encinitas." Mr. Weinreb has been misinformed. This contest does not carry the prestige that the organizers claim it has. The major surf media outlets don't even bother to cover it.
This contest will set a troubling precedent. The local surf community losing access to Swamis for 4 days is just the beginning. We are opening Pandora's Box. Imagine 3 or 4 contest a year at Swamis. The public could lose access to Swamis for 20 days a year. This has happened to many important surf spots worldwide.

Stop the privatization of our public surf spots for profit of a few. Please sign the online petition and pass it along to your friends.

www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-surfing-contests-at-swamis



thank you,
JP St Pierre

Halloween Weekend

Halloween Activities in Encinitas
Friday, Oct. 30
Campground Spooktacular ---- The San Elijo State Campground hosts a free event featuring a mini carnival game, crafts, prizes, children's costume contest and a movie; 5 to 7; 2327 S. Coast Highway 101, Cardiff; 760-715-4457 or e-mail kwiebe@parks.ca.gov.

Elks lodge to host Halloween party ---- The Encinitas Elks Lodge's Halloween Bash is open to anyone age 21 and over. Entertainment by classic rock band Planet Jack and a "ghoulish" dinner menu. There will be a costume contest and a raffle; 7 p.m.; 1393 Windsor Road, Encinitas; $12 ($15 at the door); 760-753-2243.

Saturday, Oct. 31
Gardens hosts Halloween party ---- San Diego Botanic Gardens hosts its annual Halloween party and parade for the preschool set. Children ages 2 to 6 can arrive in costume for a parade, trick-or-treat hunt, plant-potting and Halloween crafts and free snacks; sessions from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and 11:15 to 12:45 p.m.; 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas; $17 ($12 for garden members); 760-436-3036, ext. 222

Heritage museum's membership picnic ---- The San Dieguito Heritage Museum's Pioneer Picnic and Membership Activity features butter making, washing clothes on a washboard, using a water pump, old time crafts and stories by longtime local residents. Lunch includes hamburgers and hot dogs. Volunteers share historical exhibits and encourage memberships to the nonprofit museum and its programs; 1 to 3 p.m.; 450 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas; 760- 632-9711.

Encinitas hosts Safe Trick or Treat ----To take the trick out of trick-or-treating, the city will once again celebrate its annual Safe Trick or Treat celebration Saturday on Highway 101.

From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, businesses in the 600 to 1200 block of Coast Highway 101 will hand out candy to costumed ghouls and goblins, and many businesses will display hand-carved pumpkins, including Art N Soul, SRF Books, Encinitas Smog Center, California Community Bank and Yoga Swami. Businesses handing out candy will be marked with special signs.

The Self-Realization Fellowship has donated dozens of pumpkins ---- some as large as 100 pounds ---- for this year's Pumpkin Lane. Monks from the Fellowship will carve the orange gourds and arrange them for the Queen's Court, where a costumed queen will hand out candy to trick-or-treaters at 1150 S. Coast Highway 101.
In the courtyard at the 101 Artists Colony, a stage will be set up for live music performed from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. by Uplift. And Oh My Dog! Photography will do portraits of costumed revelers all evening (at 816 S. Coast Highway 101).

*Blogger's Rant: I would like to take a minute to criticize the concept of the SAFE TRICK OR TREAT. Listen, trick or treating is safe, it has always been safe. Nothing bad has ever happened to kids on Halloween. Nobody has ever stuck pins or razorblades or poison into candy. That is all a bunch of fear mongering media urban myth bullshit and it has totally ruined one of the greatest nights in American childhood. Churches and chamber of commerce all across this country have used scare tactics to take the fun out of trick or treating in our own neighborhoods. The SRF event is great and everyone should go, but geez, when I was a little kid this town rocked on Halloween and now it's a ghost town. I'm hoping with the new baby boom we can bring Halloween back to our residential streets and make Halloween the great American holiday it used to be.

Good Morning Humans

Sunday News Roundup

What stories are we tracking this week? (Besides that Ace" Frehley, guitarist for KISS bought a guitar from Fred Caldwell. 


NCT: Task force postpones ocean decision PANEL SETS SIGHTS ON ENCINITAS KELP BEDS, LA JOLLA
Gee, it's great how the Navy can kill cetaceans with it's sonar but now you won't be able to spear a fish for dinner at your local reef. They are talking about banning urchin diving at Swamis. Since we don't have sea otters to control urchins anymore, you can say goodbye to the kelp bed if divers aren't controlling the urchin population. Yes, urchins love to eat kelp, which is home to thousands of other species.

NCT: CARLSBAD: City sales tax revenue down 19 percent
The article says Encinitas sales tax is down 13%, but the city hasn't confirmed this number.

NCT: NCTD leaders slam federal requirement BOARD STILL APPROVES MANDATED STUDY
Always drama with the NCTD, always.

SignOnSanDiego: 760 overlay starts
A local Leucadian saves small businesses thousands in printing cost by creating movement to keep 760.

NCT: Garden supporters push ahead with project
In a crafty move the Encinitas power trio of Dalager, Stocks and Bond pit gardeners against open space supporters in order to save their backroom/off the record deal with a developer.

*And, on the blog this week my fellow blogger Kevin tried to be a nice guy by posting letters from Gary Tucker, Mike Andreen and Jim Kydd. This backfired and now everybody is mad at Kevin for "taking sides". Yes, Encinitas is high school for grown ups.

Quail Gardens Drive Property

On Thursday, December 6, 2007 the City of Encinitas Planning Commission voted an extension of time for approval of Tentative Map, Major Use Permit, and Coastal Development Permit to allow a 10-residential-lot subdivision with a density bonus on the city-owned property on Quail Gardens Drive. This is the piece of property that supporters are proposing as an excellent site for use as a community gardens. The property is currently vacant.


The city had bought the property in c.1998 for use as a public park. In October 2004, as part of an agreement with the Paul Ecke Ranch to swap the property with a piece of Ecke property along Saxony Road for a Public Works yard, the city allowed the Ecke Ranch to process the original subdivision of the city owned property. This was part of a deal to let the Ecke Ranch rezone a part of the ranch for residential use. When the rezoning was put to a public vote under Proposition A and defeated in 2005, the whole agreement collapsed. The city later bought the Mossy Chevrolet property to use as a Public Works yard. Thus, the original justification to put a subdivision map on the city-owned property disappeared.

So why wasn’t the original subdivision approval allowed to lapse and why was the extension granted? There were large numbers of people at the Planning Commission meeting who spoke against the extension. Everyone wanted the property to be used for its original purpose – as a park. Yet the staff argued for maintaining flexibility on the property, and the Planning Commissioners agreed, ignoring all the public input. There could be only one reason: the council had plans to sell the property.


Who might be interested in obtaining the Quail Gardens Drive property?

During the subdivision extension discussion someone noticed that David Meyer was standing in the back of the room. Meyer is a developer and brother-in-law of Paul Ecke III. He has been very active in election campaigns which support Stocks, Bond, and Dalager, and has been responsible for years of smear campaigns against their challengers. He was seen dining at Pino’s together with Mike Andreen and Doug Harwood on election night in 2004, hoping to celebrate Councilwoman Houlihan’s defeat (note: Houlihan had her election night party at Pino’s).

Meyer never spoke at the planning commission meeting. He only watched everything very carefully and was seen talking to city staff after the agenda item was approved and then left city hall. He looked pleased. And why shouldn’t he have been? He got what he wanted and had positioned himself to get the property. The problem is that the city negotiates real estate transactions in closed door session out of the public eye. What’s to prevent the council majority of Stocks, Bond, and Dalager from approving a sweetheart deal with Meyer and then simply announcing it to the public? The answer is nothing, unless there is strong public protest and insistence that the property be put up for sale in open public bidding. The Mossy real estate transaction proved to the council that they can give away millions of dollars during a real estate deal and public will not react, after the fact. We have to insist that the council opens the decision making process long before any property is transferred to a developer or well connected member of the community.

Better yet, why not keep the property for a park, as a community garden as many are requesting? The suggestion of Indian Head Canyon as an alternative is a diversion. This land was dedicated to open space and to be allowed to return to a natural habitat. Increased housing density through mixed use and upzoning will create more demand, not less, for open space and parks. It is shortsighted to sell the Quail Gardens Drive land. It looks like the council majority is planning to sell city assets to finance the construction of the Hall property. It’s not hard to guess what will be sold first and to whom.

Gerald Sodomka

Blogger's Note: If the council majority has made a decision to sell they have done so in violation of the Brown Act, because there hasn't been a public vote. I've put in a great effort trying to get the city council on record for what they plan for this potential park site. It looks like they have a plan. So far, the council has ducked the issue and the only thing on record is the council's broken promises to hold a public discussion about the site’s future. I am for the city holding a public vote regarding the future of the site.

Kydd Wants Bailout for Encinitas Chamber of Commerce

Here is a link to Jim Kydd's Op-Ed on the ECoC drama. Read that first.

photo credit

The publisher of The Coast News, Jim Kydd, writes that withholding taxdollars from the chamber is making it difficult for the chamber to pay its bills. Kydd says he believes the financial report prepared for the chamber that alleges misuse of city funds. Kydd also credits the new Chamber CEO for helping the WWLC Corporation to take over Swamis for three days next October (this is the biggest thing to ever happen in Encinitas).


Kydd also calls out Andreen for "obvious" copyright infringement because his organization is called the "New Encinitas" CoC and writes "[Andreen] is openly being supported by former Encinitas Chamber CEO Gary Tucker and Encinitas City Councilman Jerome Stocks."

Andreen, who worked on the chamber's publications, had been widely credited for giving Council Member Jerome Stocks a free happy talk PR campaign. Kydd reviewed the last 20 issues of the Chamber's Newsletter/Newspaper and found that Jerome got the lion's share of the photos. This matters if the chamber was getting direct and indirect government support.

Years ago Andreen worked for The Coast News. Kydd explicitly questions Andreen's integrity and goes on to say why he fired Andreen. It wasn't because Andreen botched an editorial.

I would have sworn that Andreen was named Vollenteer of the Year not long ago.


I agree with Kydd that under normal conditions that the separation of the visitor center and the chamber should be done so in an orderly manner. On the other hand, the city seems to have taken the position that its contractor was not living up to its contractual obligations. The chamber is the contractor, not Andreen and Tucker. If the chamber has met their obligations and provided the services for which they have billed the city, they should be paid.

Kydd goes further than that and says the city should bailout the chamber. He wants the city to pay for the chamber's legal fight with Andreen. I'm still trying to get my head around why the taxpayer should help a private organization fight with another private organization.


Responsibility for the drama is placed on the city council by Kydd. Maybe to keep things simple he doesn't mention the 3-2 split on the council over this issue. I'll concede that the city's lax oversight, special treatment, poor contracting policies, and lack of open competitive bidding begs for taxdollars to be squandered and dramas to develop. Adoption of a reasonable contracting policy by the council could fix that.

Questions:
1. Why did Tucker's predecessor leave?
2. Why does Kydd have a collection of Encinitas First newsletters?
3. Would the restaurateurs, hoteliers and vacations rental owners fund the visitor center if the city didn't? Will they fund it in the short-term, during the funding gap?

Gary's Response: Part I

Kevin,

I'd like to remind you that this report was requested by the City Council at the April 15th Council Meeting. As a condition of receiving a new contract the Chamber was required to provide an "Audit of The Visitor Center's expenditures for the prior year", with the results of the audit to be presented to Council within 60 days.

On August 31st the Chamber still had not provided the audit that was required by the Council more than 4 months before. After begging Phil Cotton for another 3 week extension Marshall Weinreb, CEO was notified in a letter from Phil Cotton dated September 1st that the agreement was specific in stipulating a time frame when an audit of the financial reports of the Encinitas Visitor Center would be provided to the City by the Chamber. As a result Phil directed staff to withhold any future payments to the Chamber until the audit was received and approved by the City. The report was finally submitted to the City in early September now 5 months late. The Accountant's Forensic Report was produced by Colleen Walsh, CPA from CFO to-Go.In a document dated July 19th addressed to Ken Gross, Chamber President Colleen Walsh says the following: "a review does not contemplate obtaining an understanding of the internal control structure or assessing control risk, tests of accounting records and responses to inquiries by obtaining corroborating evidential matter, and certain other procedures ordinarily performed during an audit". "Thus, a review does not provide assurance that we will become aware of all significant matters that would be disclosed in an audit.Our engagement cannot be relied upon to disclose errors, irregularities, or illegal acts, including fraud or defalcations that may exist." She goes on to state that "all information included in these financial statements is the representation of the management of Encinitas Visitor Center". "Based on our review, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the accompanying financial statements in order for them to be in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles". In her Forensic Report to the Chamber Board Colleen Walsh says "The forensic observations and disclosures in this report are based on information that is the representation of management". "The information and findings presented herein are not designed for those who are not informed about the financial matters of Encinitas Chamber of Commerce". "Responsibility for any action taken on the observations, disclosures and findings of this report rests with the management and Board of Directors of Encinitas Chamber of Commerce".
As a result of this haphazard review spoon fed, to the soon to be new Chamber Board Member Colleen Walsh, by two of the most uninformed, least knowledgeable so called Chamber Executives in my 20 year association with the Chamber. Ms. Walsh come up with the following assertions: *(TRUTH)

• Forensic Accounting reveals many irregularities and questions continue to arise (?)
• Former CEO diverts funds (the great 2nd copier caper/ ask Ken Gross who approved the purchase)
• Expense reports filed with the City of Encinitas to support Visitor Center financial picture inaccurate and misleading (I have reviewed 10 years of these reports from city files, virtually identical to those submitted by my staff & all approved by Richard Phillips in the city Managers office, as were mine)
• A portion of former CEO salary billed to Visitor Center ( common practice for the entire time Chamber has operated Visitor Center,10+ years. I operated the Chamber & Visitor Center with 2 paid staff and myself)
• 50% of total rent allocated to the Visitor Center ( 2400 sq. ft.total space, 1200 Chamber / 1200 V C)
• Visitor Center & Chamber rent increased 45% ( when we moved to new location space doubled)
• Chamber was never in a cash flow position to stay current with the terms of the new lease, as of June 2009 $11,960 in arrears (my last day was Jan. 24 2009 I never missed a rent payment from July 2007 thru Jan.2009, ask Ken Gross what happened when he and Michelle Johnston took over operation of Chamber after dismissing me on the 24th, conveniently not in forensic report)
• City funds that should have been flowing to V C were decreasing over time as former management struggled with cash flow ( I never missed one monthly V C reimbursement check in 24 mos., ask Ken Gross & Marshall Weinreb about their record)
• CEO received undocumented expense advances & $4,000 for furniture deposit ( after my performance review from Ken Gross I received a salary increase & the following monthly benefits - medical ins.$300, Car allowance $200, Cell phone allowance $100, ask Ken Gross & Dr. Klien for a copy of my contract & review) (I placed an $11,000 down payment for Chamber office furniture on my Amex card & after 1 1/2 yrs.I got reimbursed, ask Board Member David Da Costa who sold the Chamber $23,000 worth of office furniture)
• Fixed assets sold to D.E.M.A.in 2008 ( after reducing staff to one full time operations manager we had 2 extra desks, cabinets & chairs, originally purchased in 2007. Sold to D.E.M.A. at 25% off $3,111 deposited in chamber bank account, ask Doug Long, Charley Sougius, Dave Agious - DEMA board members who helped move and install the furniture)

Virtually everything listed above was told to Marshall Weinreb in a face to face meeting at the Lumberyard one month after he took over. Ken Gross was aware of all decisions as were the Executive Committee Members. I was an employee and served at the pleasure of the Board of Directors, I received good performance reviews and two raises while employed as CEO. If the Chamber is really interested in auditing the Visitor Center they might what to concentrate on the period from Jan. 24, 2009 to October 23, 2009.

Thanks for listening
Gary Tucker

City snubs 700 humans who want to cross the train tracks legally

The City of Encinitas currently has 5 at-grade pedestrian crossings. One is pedestrian only.

Coast News article Railroad remains a barrier

ENCINITAS — Despite the requests of numerous residents, City Council voted unanimously to continue with plans to build pedestrian crossings under the railroad on Oct. 14.

A large contingent of supporters of “at-grade” crossings addressed the council in an effort to scrap the project in favor of a cheaper, easier solution. The three pedestrian crossings under the railroad tracks come at a price tag of $15 million.

Several speakers asked the council to pursue permission from the state regulatory agency and the railroad companies to approve a simpler plan to cross the tracks at street level. “All I’m asking for is time (to explore the issue),” said Leucadia resident Rachelle Collier, who helped collect 700 signatures in support of developing a plan to create at-grade crossings.

While preliminary environmental work is under way for proposed underpasses at El Portal Street, Santa Fe Drive and Montgomery Avenue, the city has only budgeted $1 million for the Santa Fe site with additional $4 million earmarked by the state for the project. A fourth project at Hillcrest Drive is undergoing environmental review.

Councilman Jerome Stocks, who represents the city on the North County Transit District, previously said he is optimistic that financial support will be forthcoming.

Stocks also said that if the city pursues at-grade crossings it will be difficult to establish so-called “quiet zones” because of safety concerns.

Councilman Dan Dalager said he doubted the city would get permission to build at-grade crossings.

read the rest of the story, click me

Dude, I know if we had at grade pedestrian crossings it would save millions and millions of dollars but it sounds like an uphill battle man so why even try, you know?

Community Garden on council agenda Wed Oct 28

The Encinitas community garden effort will be discussed at the City Council Meeting on Wednesday, October 28th, 6 pm. Gordon Smith and Elizabeth Taylor will address City Council Members about the community garden committee's progress.

Lobby your city council members for a community garden by calling them on the telephone:

Jim Bond 760 633-2623
Jerome Stocks 760 633-2622
Dan Dalager 760 633-2624
Maggie Houlihan 760 633-2621
Teresa Barth 760 633-2620
Use this email to contact all 5 city council members council@ci.encinitas.ca.us

All the council members seemed to like the idea of a community garden last time it was discussed, but the 3 boys want the garden to be located on the Indian Head Canyon open space reserve and not the 9 acre city owned parcel off Quail Gardens Drive, because they already promised that land to one their developer friends (an oral agreement apparently).

Suggesting the Indian Head Canyon location was a crafty move because it pits the open space preserve folks against the gardeners, which for the most part is the same group of people. Encinitas doesn't have a lot of open space left and installing this garden will set a nice precedent for the city to use our open space in the future.

If it were up to me I would put the community garden in the Pacific View school location.

A community garden sounds like a slam dunk, but if you want this I suggest you lobby hard for it. I predict a 3-2 vote against the garden because some of the Encinitas Elite have been grumbling that the community garden is a waste of time and for hippy losers (a strange belief considering that gardening is one of America's oldest and greatest traditions). Good luck.

Read the NCT story from April